Comet Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko has a new visitor, as the Philae lander has successfully touched down on the icy body. This marks the first time in history that a spacecraft has touched down on the surface of one of these ancient, frozen structures.
Philae traveled to the comet along with the Rosetta observatory, designed to carefully examine the body of the comet as it passes around the Sun.
"With Rosetta we are opening a door to the origin of planet Earth and fostering a better understanding of our future. ESA and its Rosetta mission partners have achieved something extraordinary today," Jean-Jacques Dordain, director general of the ESA, said.
Agikia, a small region on the head of the cometary nucleus, was chosen as the landing site for Philae, just six weeks after the pair of spacecraft arrived at the comet. Images taken by the robotic observatory revealed boulders, deep pits and cliffs over the nucleus of the object, along with gas and dust streaming from vents littered across its surface.
The historic landing followed a tense descent that took seven hours to complete. This followed a period of close observation of the proposed landing site, carried out from Rosetta at a distance of just over six miles from the body of the object.
Comets were formed during the earliest days of the solar system, and contain some of the oldest material found in our family of planets. One popular theory on the origin of water on our planet holds that the life-providing substance was delivered to Earth through a series of cometary impacts. Astronomers hope that by making careful observations of these frozen masses, they can uncover information about the formation of our Sun and planets, including our own world.
Rosetta and Philae launched to 67/P on March 2, 2004, and journeyed four billion miles before landing took place. Ice screws in legs of the lander secured onto the comet as it landed, and a pair of harpoons fired into the body, preventing the vehicle from rebounding.
Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner was the first to be explored by a spacecraft, when the International Cometary Explorer (ICE) was launched on August 12, 1978. That vehicle recently became the first spacecraft to be turned over to a private group, as part of an extended mission. Halley's Comet was visited by four vehicles, Vega 1 and 2, Sakigake, and Giotto. Deep Impact, launched on 12 January, 2005, purposely crashed into the comet 9P/Tempel, and the resulting blast was recorded by the Stardust craft, for the first time in history.
Philae will carry out its main science mission within three days of landing, and could continue operating until March 2015, when heat from the Sun is expected to overwhelm systems.
William Shatner, who played Captain Kirk in the original Star Trek television series, was one of the first people informed of the landing directly by mission controllers.
"@WilliamShatner touchdown confirmed for away team @philae2014, captain!" ESA officials tweeted.
